Lucy Letby: Murder-accused nurse found baby's death hard, trial hears

Lucy Letby told police she found it "quite hard" when one of her alleged victims lived for several hours after his catastrophic collapse.

The newborn boy stopped breathing without warning just days after his premature birth at the Countess of Chester Hospital in June 2015.

The infant, referred to as Child C, is one of seven babies allegedly murdered by Ms Letby.

Ms Letby, 32, denies 22 charges.

Jurors at Manchester Crown Court heard Ms Letby is alleged to have caused the collapse of Child C by inserting air into the boy's stomach via a nasogastric tube.

The court heard how medics failed to revive the baby and that "token resuscitation" took place until the arrival of a Church of England vicar to baptise the boy and a Catholic priest to perform a blessing.

However, signs of life reappeared during the wait for the ministers with "occasional gasps of breathing" and "feeble heart beats" noted as the parents cuddled their son, the court heard.

An on-call consultant could not explain the "fairly minimal" signs of life but explained to Child C's parents the chance of him recovering was "remote" and the prospect of him not suffering profound brain damage was "extremely remote".

Palliative care was provided and no further gasps or heartbeat were heard some five hours after the christening and Child C was pronounced dead, the jury was told.

When interviewed about Child C, Ms Letby said she remembered him because he was a small baby.

Ms Letby recalled he deteriorated not long after his first feed by one of the nurses but said she had no involvement in that.

Her only involvement with Child C was when she was asked to help with the resuscitation attempt, she told police.

She added she had a "vague recollection" of taking Child C's hand and foot prints for a memory box while the infant was sat with his parents but "couldn't be certain".

Ms Letby went on to say she found the boy's death "quite hard because he lived several hours [after the collapse]" and she had "not seen that before".

She said it was "very sad" for the parents.

Ms Letby, originally from Hereford, accepted she made Facebook searches for the parents about 10 hours after their son died but could not remember doing the searches or why.

The jury later heard from expert medical witness Dr Sandie Bohin, who said Child C was "potentially at risk of complications" after birth.

But she told the court: "Actually, in his early days he managed very well indeed. He was not only doing well but was actually improving. This was not a baby who was ill."

She agreed Child C developed pneumonia but said he received the standard treatment of antibiotics.

Addressing Dr Bohin, Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said: "In your view, did the infection that [Child C] had, was that the cause of his catastrophic collapse?"

Dr Bohin said: "I think he died with his pneumonia, not because of his pneumonia."

Ben Myers KC, defending, noted Child C's blood platelet count fell below acceptable levels, his weight was low and he had not been fed.

"If you put things together they might be a matter for concern?", he asked.

Dr Bohin said: "I say there was not."

The trial continues.

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